Scottsville is a town in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The population was 522 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Scottsville Museum provides online archives. According t
Scottsville's website
the town "served as Virginia's westernmost center of government and commerce during the 1700s, when rivers were the primary means of travel in the new American wilderness." During the late 18th and the 19th centuries attempts were made to improve navigability along the James, as well as other central Virginian rivers. Part of this was the construction of a canal running roughly parallel with the James west from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. Scottsville was the largest port town along this route, called the

James River and Kanawha Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for ...

. The ultimate goal of this project was to connect the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

with the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

via the

Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of th ...

. These aims were not achieved, due to interruption by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and the efficiency of the railroads. It did however succeed in making Scottsville a busy, prominent town. In fact, thanks to a wagon road connecting Staunton to Scottsville, all of the agricultural wealth of the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

poured into town en route to Richmond and the sea, thereby making Scottsville the largest

grain market The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...

in the state. Trade was disrupted when Union soldiers broke the canal works in the area. Then the train came, the tracks being laid directly on the towpath of the old canal, a monument to its demise. Eventually, the train too stopped taking passengers, leaving Scottsville a sleepy country town on a coal line. Located near Scottsville, the

Hatton Ferry Hatton Ferry is a poled cable ferry located 5.5 miles west of Scottsville, Virginia on the James River. It is the last poled ferry in the United States. The ferry crosses the river upstream of Scottsville between Albemarle County and Buckingham ...

serves as a seasonal crossing of the James River and has been the location of a ferry since the late 1870s. Scottsville was the birthplace of

Thomas Staples Martin Thomas Staples Martin (July 29, 1847November 12, 1919) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Albemarle County, Virginia, who founded a political organization that held power in Virginia for decades (later becoming known as ...

, who served five terms as a Democrat in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

representing Virginia. Born at Scottsville in 1847, Martin served in the Confederate Army, then went on to practice law. The

Scottsville Historic District Scottsville Historic District is a national historic district located at Scottsville, Albemarle County and Fluvanna County, Virginia. The district encompasses 153 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 4 contributing structures in t ...

, Cliffside,

High Meadows High Meadows, also known as Peter White House, is a historic home located near Scottsville, Albemarle County, Virginia. History High Meadows consists of a -story brick dwelling built between 1831 and 1832, and a two-story, 1883 stuccoed bric ...

Mount Ida In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida' ...

, and Mount Walla are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In September 2019, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to adjust the town's boundaries. The adjustment accounts for the expansion of the Scottsville Volunteer Fire Department and for a clarification of a boundary line along the James River.

Geography

Scottsville is located at (37.8022, -78.4969). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of 1.5 square miles (4.0 km²), all land.

Transportation

The main highways serving Scottsville are

Virginia State Route 6 State Route 6 (SR 6) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known for most of its length as River Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 250 (US 250) in Afton east to SR 161 in Richmond. SR 6 is one of the main hi ...

and

Virginia State Route 20 State Route 20 (SR 20) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 15 (US 15) in Dillwyn north to SR 3 in Wilderness. SR 20 is a C-shaped route that connects Charlottesville with Farmv ...

. SR 6 extends westward towards Waynesboro and eastward towards

. SR 20 extends northward towards

and southward towards Dillwyn.

Education

The Scottsville museum website provides detailed information about and photographs of the school provision in Scottsville. In the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

era, education was racially segregated until the 1960s. Segregated provision was made by Scottsville School and Esmont High School. Today, education is provided by Monticello High School, Leslie Walton Middle School and Scottsville Elementary School.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 556 people, 256 households, and 145 families living in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 360.2 people per square mile (139.1/km²). There were 300 housing units at an average density of 194.7 per square mile (75.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 93.51%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 4.68%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.72% Native American, 0.36% Asian, and 0.72% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.36% of the population. There were 256 households, out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.82. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.2% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.6 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $30,903, and the median income for a family was $41,667. Males had a median income of $31,369 versus $22,656 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $17,432. About 11.1% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Floods

Scottsville has not flooded since the levee was constructed in 1985. Since 1870, Scottsville has had twenty-one floods (defined as water levels of twenty feet or more above the average low water level). In 1985, the Army Corps of Engineers built a

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

around the lowest portion of Scottsville, providing protection against further floods. Mayor A. Raymon Thacker spearheaded the movement to build the levee starting after

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, ...

to prevent any more floods affecting Scottsville. The levee has been very effective preventing numerous floods in the post levee era.

References

External links

Town website

Scottsville Museum

Scottsville's Canal Basin Square Website
{{authority control Towns in Albemarle County, Virginia Towns in Fluvanna County, Virginia Populated places on the James River (Virginia)